Academy of Finland Newsletter, January 2010
29.1.2010
The Academy of Finland newsletter will keep you updated on scientific research funded in Finland and on other news from the Finnish world of science and research. In case you wish us to send this to someone else in your organisation or if you do not want to receive these newsletters in the future, please let us know at viestinta@aka.fi.
Features:
The new Board and Research Councils of the Academy of Finland
Reform of Academy funding instruments
New Centre of Excellence programme open to applications
ERC Advanced Grant to Academy Professor Seppo Ylä-Herttuala
European Institute of Innovation and Technology ICT unit to Finland
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THE NEW BOARD AND RESEARCH COUNCILS OF THE ACADEMY OF FINLAND
The Board and the four Research Councils of the Academy of Finland started their three-year term in January. The Board is the highest decision-making organ of the Academy of Finland. Its eight members are responsible for the broad outline of the Academy’s science policy and the allocation of research appropriations to the Academy’s research councils. In addition, the Board decides on the appointment of Academy Professors, the selection of research units for the Centre of Excellence programme and the start-up of new research programmes. The Board members 1.1.2010–31.12.2012 are the following:
Board Chair, Professor Arto Mustajoki of the University of Helsinki; Aino Takala, Vice President, Business Development, of Orion Diagnostica; Professor Päivi Törmä of Aalto University; President Markku Mattila of the Academy of Finland; Professor Paavo Pelkonen of the University of Eastern Finland, Chair of the Academy’s Research Council for Biosciences and Environment; Professor Aila Lauha of the University of Helsinki, Chair of the Academy’s Research Council for Culture and Society; Professor Erkki Oja of Aalto University, Chair of the Academy’s Research Council for Natural Sciences and Engineering; and Professor Tuula Tamminen of the University of Tampere, Chair of the Academy’s Research Council for Health.
The four Research Councils carry out Academy tasks within their respective fields of expertise. The members of the Research Councils are listed on the Academy website at www.aka.fi/eng > Academy of Finland > Research Councils.
The Chair, the Board and the ten members of each Research Council are appointed by the Government of Finland. Members of the Board and the Research Councils represent versatile scientific expertise of a high standard. Before the appointments, the Ministry of Education heard universities, government research institutes, public authorities and corporate bodies representing research and development, major scientific societies and science academies.
REFORM OF ACADEMY FUNDING INSTRUMENTS
The Academy of Finland’s funding instruments will be restructured in autumn 2010. The purpose of the reform is to give the various funding instruments greater clarity and flexibility, and to improve the effectiveness and impact of the Academy’s research funding. The reform also includes overhaul of the Academy’s online services and changes to call times.
Some of the funding instruments that are now part of the January call will be moved to the autumn. This is the case with funding opportunities such as the general research grants (henceforth Academy projects) and the Postdoctoral Researcher’s projects. As a consequence and as an exception to normal procedures, there will be two calls in these particular funding instruments within the same year in 2010.
NEW CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE PROGRAMME OPEN TO APPLICATIONS
The Academy of Finland’s call for the new Centre of Excellence in research programme for 2012–2017 is open in January-February 2010. The CoE programme offers an excellent opportunity for research teams and consortia to carry out research of a high international standard with six-year funding. At present, there are two ongoing CoE programmes, within which the Academy funds a total of 41 Centres of Excellence.
The Academy of Finland has revised the national strategy for Centres of Excellence in research. The strategy revision is based on the impact evaluation of the CoE programmes published in February 2009. The strategy’s new areas of emphasis will appear in the January call for the CoE programme and will be applied in the call process, in the selection of CoEs and the implementation of the CoE programme.
“For example, the definition of Centre of Excellence has been made stricter: a CoE is now required to be at the international cutting edge of research in its field,” says Ritva Dammert, Director of the Programme Unit at the Academy of Finland. “According to the impact evaluation of the CoE programmes, CoEs have both scientific and societal impact. CoEs have reinforced the image of Finnish science and research, and their operations also have an impact on the strategic planning of universities. Many units also engage in cooperation with the business sector,” Dammert says.
The Academy invites applications for the CoE programme from all scientific disciplines. In the evaluation of applications for Centres of Excellence, key criteria will include the scientific quality and innovativeness of the research plan, its feasibility, and the competence of the researcher applying for the position of the director of a CoE. Applications for the CoE programme will be subjected to international peer review. In the evaluation, units from different fields will not be directly compared with each other.
ERC ADVANCED GRANT TO ACADEMY PROFESSOR SEPPO YLÄ-HERTTUALA
The European Research Council (ERC) has awarded Academy Professor Seppo Ylä-Herttuala 2.2 million euros in research funding in the second ERC Advanced Grant competition. The research funding was granted for research on gene transfer techniques in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases and malignant glioma. Professor Ylä-Herttuala is at the A.I. Virtanen Institute of the University of Eastern Finland and he is head of the Academy of Finland’s Centre of Excellence in Cardiovascular Diseases and Type 2 Diabetes Research. Academy Professors are funded by the Academy of Finland and promote research on a high level in their own field. Research posts as Academy Professor are intended for full-time research during a fixed term.
Seppo Ylä-Herttuala is a pioneer in gene therapy for cardiovascular diseases and brain tumours, and in virus-mediated gene transfer techniques, and he is one of the leading researchers in his field worldwide. The first gene transfer into a malignant brain tumour to be performed in the Nordic countries was done by his team in 1995, and the first-ever adenovirus-mediated gene transfer into human arteries performed in the world was done by his team in 1996. Subsequently, gene therapy has been shown to have beneficial effects in relation to cardiovascular conditions in a number of Phase I and II trials. The gene-based product for treatment of brain tumours developed by Ylä-Herttuala almost doubled the mean survival time of patients in a clinical trial, compared with the current standard treatment.
The European Research Council provides funding for investigator-driven frontier research. Funding is awarded to individual principal investigators, who then set up a research team to implement the research project. There are two types of grants: the ERC Starting Grant and the ERC Advanced Grant.
EUROPEAN INSTITUTE OF INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY ICT UNIT TO FINLAND
The European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) has designated the first three Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs). They operate in the areas of sustainable energy, future information and communication society, and climate change mitigation and adaptation. Finland participates in the KIC for future information and communication society. The founding members of the Finnish unit are the Aalto University, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland and Nokia. The Finnish unit will be located on the Aalto University campus in Otaniemi.
Participation in the KICs of the EIT and having a unit in Finland coincides with the ongoing university reform in Finland. It opens doors to participation in a worldwide network of tertiary education and research on a high level; the importance of such participation was underlined in the international evaluation of the Finnish innovation system published in 2009.
The European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) facilitates research and the realisation of innovations, and aims to promote sustainable economic growth and competitiveness in Europe.
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Academy of Finland in brief: The Academy’s objective is to promote scientific research of a high standard through long-term quality-based research funding, research and science policy expertise and efforts to strengthen the position of science and scientific research. The Academy makes decisions on research funding worth 314 million euros. Each year about 5,000 people benefit from Academy research funding. For more information, go to www.aka.fi/eng or send a message to maj-lis.tanner@aka.fi.